Mass Effect: Contact
by TheShredDoctor
Summary: The reapers are defeated, and the galaxy seems peaceful. That is until an advanced and aggressive race that predates the previous reaper invasion enters the galactic stage, demanding that blood be spilled.
1. Chapter 1: Calm Before The Storm

**I apologize if this fanfic seems lacking at all, it is my first ever fan-fic. I'm more of a comic book writer than an actual story/novel writer.**

**Please enjoy my first fan fic, "Mass Effect - Contact". Please feel free to critique. Obviously, if something needs work, don't be afraid to let me know, it's the only way I'll learn and get better, but please don't just out-right insult without giving reasons why you feel negatively towards the story; that never helps anyone.**

* * *

**Prologue**

It had been nearly four months since the firing of the Crucible by the time a galactic network of FTL communication relays had been reestablished. For the first time since the beginning of the reaper invasion, people of all races from around the galaxy tuned in to listen to the same broadcast.

"A Galactic summit was called today on Sur'Kesh, where representatives from all races were present. Discussions will include plans for the reconstruction and relocation of the Citadel. These plans face opposition from parties that believe to rebuild it would expend resources that should be focused towards the rebuilding of the many worlds devastated in the reaper invasion; Khar'shan, Earth, and Palaven being the hardest hit. Those who are for the Citadel's reconstruction argue that the Citadel was an important symbol of galactic unity, and is needed to serve as the central hub of the new Mass Relay network."

"Also on the agenda is the formation of a new council with equal representation from all galactic species, including those that had lost their Citadel member status, or have never been included as a member, such as the Batarians, Rachni, and Quarians.

"On Rannoch, the Quarian Admiralty has begun a campaign to reactivate the Geth after they mysteriously ceased to function immediately following the activation of the Crucible over Earth. Admiral Tali'Zorah, the driving force behind this campaign stated that the Geth would be able to provide tremendous aid in galaxy wide reconstruction efforts. Support for this campaign is rapidly growing, partially due to Tali'Zorah's recent popularity due to rumors of her relationship with war hero Commander John Shepard.

"Commander Shepard was released from intensive medical care for injuries sustained during the battle of Earth. Immediately following his release, he was offered a promotion to Rear Admiral. He declined the promotion, stating that he wanted to remain with the same ship and crew. The Commander also commented that he plans on retiring once his service period is over, and living a peaceful life away from action.

"This reporter hopes that Commander Shepard is able to find that peace. If there's anyone who deserves it, it's him."

* * *

**Chapter 1 – Silence Before The Storm:**

All around, burning hellfire blazed, tendrils of crimson flame licked the sky. An endless sea of destruction spread in all directions, the inferno consuming the rubble of a once majestic city. Fallen street signs, shards of glass, and dead bodies littered the streets. The acrid smell of charred flesh mingled with the stench of putrefaction. The scene before Commander Sheppard was one from hell

_How are we supposed to stop them? How do we bring an end to a race of machines, which for hundreds of millions of years, has existed for the sole purpose of causing the extinction of the galaxy's most advanced civilizations?_

"John, we need to get moving, we need to reach that beam!"

He turned his head to his right to see the glowing eyes and smoky purple mask of Tali'Zorah, the love of his life. Simply seeing her standing there suddenly erased the doubts that had tormented his mind, and replaced them with a feeling of courage.

_I can do this. I will do this. For her._

A small, gloved hand wrapped around his, their fingers lacing together. Sheppard stole on more glanced at the Quarian beside him, before setting his steely blue eyes on the target ahead.

Together, they started forwards, quickly building pace until the reached a full-out run. Two pairs of feet padded the ground, propelling the duo forward.

Suddenly a deafening roar split the air as an intense streak of bright read light flashed. A wave of heat billowed out, enveloping Sheppard, infiltrating his lungs and scorching his throat. A powerful shockwave threw Sheppard from his feet, launching him several meters away. As quickly as it began, the light suddenly disappeared.

Sheppard staggered to his feet, hissing as a searing pain radiated across his body. Entire sections of his armor had been blown off, exposing his charred skin underneath. He could feel sharp stabs of pain in his side where he had fractured his ribs.

_Tali!_

Sheppard turned to see where the laser had struck him, looking for any signs of his quarian lover. The purple of her hood caught his attention. Laying mere feet away, he saw her body sprawled out on the ground. Her visor had smashed open; exposing her burned and blood covered face. There was no rise and fall of her chest; the telltale sign that she was no longer breathing.

"NO!"

* * *

Sheppard sat bolt upright, his heart racing, adrenaline surging through his veins.

_Where am I?_

"John?" A soft, sweet voice called out from beside him "Are you alright?"

There was the sound of rustling blankets as a lithe form propped itself up beside Sheppard. A slender arm wrapped itself around Sheppard's waist, sending goose bumps to ripple across his back.

"Tali?" Sheppard whispered, suddenly realizing he was in bed with the beautiful quarian machinist.

"Yeah, it's me. Did you have a bad dream? It's alright; you're here, safe in bed with me."

Sheppard turned to gaze deeply into his lover's pale, glowing eyes, willing her luminous stare to wash over him. The soft light had a calming effect on him, slowing his breathing and heart rate to normal.

_It's been 3 years now since the reaper invasion, and I'm still getting nightmares, _Shepard thought to himself. _2 more and my term with the Alliance will be over, and I'll hopefully be able to move on._

He shifted slightly and wrapped a strong, muscular arm around Tali's shoulders. With a tight squeeze, he pulled her in closer, pressing her body against his chest.

_This; being with her, it feels right. Soon it will be just the two of us, together on a house on that cliff on Rannoch._

noticing Tali's enviro-suit on the floor beside the bed , Shepard asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Very comfortable. For a big, scary warrior, you make a perfect pillow", she replied teasingly, letting out a soft purr of content.

"Glad to hear it, but you know what I meant. Are you feeling sick?" Sheppard chuckled.

Taking a long inhale first, as if to prove her point, she responded, "Fine. My sinuses are clear; I don't have a fever… I've got a clean bill of health. I honestly don't think it will be long at all until I don't need my damned suit anymore."

The commander brought his had up and place it gently against her cheek. She responded by leaning in to his touch, closing her eyes seductively as she did.

"Good, I could do with seeing your beautiful face more."

At that, Tali leaned in for a deep kiss.

"Well," she said breathlessly after breaking the contact between their lips, "We're awake now, and it's still a few hours before we need to get out of bed. I could recommend a few things we could do to occupy our time.

"Funny," replied Shepard with a smirk, as he rolled the both of them over, pinning Tali beneath himself. "I was thinking of a few things myself."

* * *

Less than a few light years away a colossal ship hurtled through space, bearing down on its target.

On the bridge of the ship, a powerful warrior stood stoically, gazing at a holographic display of her people's sworn enemy. The warrior's unblinking stare pierced into the four digitally projected eyes looking back at her.

For almost 70 000 years my people have waited for this moment. 70 000 years, and I am the one to command the first strike in retaliation. It has been a long time coming; I will make my people proud.

"Ma'am, we're now on approach, ETA is three hours. Shall I send word to calibrate the main gun?" The ship's navigator spoke up, interrupting her thoughts.

"Yes. Be sure the spore fleets and our kinetic barriers are ready as well. Let's see if we can burn a hole through their defense before they even know we're there." A cruel smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

* * *

"John, I think I can manage to find my way without your help… not that I mind the company," Tali said lightheartedly. The couple was now on the elevator, headed to the engineering deck. Sheppard stood behind Tali, his arms enveloped around her in a warm embrace.

"I know you can," Sheppard laughed, "I was headed down to talk to Javik anyways. I figured; 'who better to share an elevator ride with?'"

Tali purred quietly and tightened her grip on Sheppard's arms. With a slight jolt, the elevator came to a halt. There was a soft beep and the door slid open to reveal a scar covered turian standing with a smug look on his face.

"Aww, look at you two, cuddling in the elevator. I'm surprised you haven't gotten matching heart necklaces or tattoos that say 'Tali and Shepard forever'," Chortled Garrus.

Tali cheeks, hidden behind the purple haze of her mask, turned crimson.

Shepard, however, merely laughed and replied, "Maybe I do have the tattoo, and it's just somewhere you can't see."

This caused Tali's cheeks to blush a deeper shade of red.

"Ha! Well, you two lovebirds enjoy yourselves. I'll wait for the elevator to come back up; I'm heading to the CIC anyways."

"If you get that tattoo, I will sick Chiktikka on you," Tali hissed the second the doors re-sealed.

"Oh, come on, don't you think it would be cute for me to get a tattoo with your name in it?" Shepard asked flirtatiously.

"Not in the least." Tali responded, attempting to sound like she was not amused.

"Ok, so not your name. What If I got a tattoo of you? That way, I would be able to see you face without you having to take your mask off," Sheppard boldly pushed.

"John, I have a shotgun," She replied, a playful, yet dangerous tone in her voice.

* * *

Shepard stepped into the dimly lit cargo bay, willing his eyes to adjust to the relative darkness. An orange haze hung low in the air, permeated by the small floor lamps: the only source of light in the room. At the far end, Javik was bent over his basin of water, faint ripples of light reflected off its surface, casting an eerie glow across the prothean's archaic suit of red armor.

"Doctor T'Soni sent me a copy of her new book," Javik stated, not looking up from the basin.

"Oh?"

"I contemplated throwing it out the airlock," Javik continued, "But something compelled me to read it first."

"So, what did you think of it?" Shepard inquired.

"I found it to be… an accurate representation of the prothean people," Javik replied, pointedly choosing the right words to convey his thoughts. There was a slight pause before he turned to face the commander. "I approve of it, despite its primitive method of information transfer."

A grin crossed Shepard's face at these words.

"That's good to hear. I'm sure Liara would be positively ecstatic to hear such praise."

"Yes, no doubt she would be." Javik returned his gaze to the slight rippling of the water. The prothean let out a sigh as he drew a finger across the liquid's surface, watching the wake hit the basin's sides. "Commander, I would like to thank you."

Sheppard, now puzzled asked, "For destroying the reapers?"

"There is that," Javik responded, "but also for treating me as an equal." The prothean stood to face the human. "Had I been discovered by anyone else, I likely would have been locked up and treated as nothing more than a science experiment. You allowed me to join your crew; you let me have my revenge."

Shepard was taken aback by Javik's sudden statement. The Prothean had never been the sentimental type. It took him a few moments to accumulate his thoughts and respond.

"I'm surprised," Shepard said finally, "The great prothean Avatar of Revenge is thanking me, the primitive, for treating him as an equal."

A slight grin tugged at the corners of Javik's mouth.

_That's the first time in the three years I've known him that I've seen him smile. What caused the sudden change?_

"Yes, I suppose it is an amusing thought. However, I truly mean what I say. It has been a very long time since I have had an ally, even longer since I've had someone I can call a friend." The prothean put his hand forward, offering a handshake.

Sheppard gladly accepted, giving it a firm shake. Javik's words struck a chord with the commander. He realized how terrible it must have been to be attacked by his own crew members; to witness the extinction of his own people, only to wake up thousands of years later, knowing he was the last of his kind.

At one point Javik had even mentioned he planned on ending his life once he saw to it the reapers were destroyed. That in itself was enough to show Shepard how little Javik thought he had to live for.

It seemed, however, that the Prothean was able to accept his place aboard the Normandy. The fact that he hadn't carried out his plans was a testament to that.

"There's something I noticed a couple of years ago, I don't know why it's taken me so long to say it," Javik spoke, breaking Shepard's train of thought.

"Please, do tell."

"Since you declined your promotion, you are now out-ranked by two of your crew members; both Captain Kaiden Alenko and your admiral girlfriend." The corners of Javik's mouth once again were pulled upwards.

_Twice now he's smiled._

Sheppard merely chuckled at the statement.

_He has a point, I'm dating the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, and she outranks me. Talk about out of my league._

There was a brief pause, during which Shepard thought about Kaiden. Once the reaper threat had vanished, Kaiden, as a Council SPECTRE had gained command of his own ship; the USS Paschendale (fitting that the proud Canadian would get a ship with such a namesake). It was a Normandy class frigate, slightly larger than the SR2, but with significantly decreased stealth capabilities and firepower.

Say what you will about Cerberus, but they knew how to build ships. Four years after its construction, and the Normandy was still far ahead of every other ship in the Alliance fleet.

Pulling himself out of his musings, Sheppard spoke. "We're headed to the citadel, and we should be there in a few minutes. I know it's just a replica of the one from your time, and it's still under construction, but you should take a look at it. I want to know if you approve."

"Some time outside of this ship would be a good idea. Thank you, commander."

"Commander, I'm receiving a distress call, you'll want to hear this," The voice of Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau crackled through the intercom.

"I'm headed to the bridge right now," Sheppard replied.

* * *

"Talk to me Joker. What do we have?" Sheppard said, positioning his hand on Joker's headrest.

The pilot looked over his shoulder at the commander, "A serious shit storm; it's probably best you listen to the call."

Shepard nodded and Joker began tapping on the ship's console. A few clicks later, and an audio file icon popped up on the luminous holographic display. There was a hushed sizzling of static before a panicked female voice rang out.

"Attention: the Citadel is under attack. Defenses are failing, we need reinforcements!"

There was a brief moment of silence as the short but urgent distress call ended. Shepard stared dumbfounded at the display, contemplating the message.

_The reapers are gone, who could be attacking? It can't be a pirate raid; no pirates would dare try to face the full force of the citadel defense fleets. The message said defenses are failing. Is there even a pirate group capable of taking on military dreadnaughts?_

Shepard shook his head sharply, snapping himself out of his train of thought.

"What's our ETA?" he asked; a serious edge in his voice.

"We're just over a minute out," Joker replied, adjusting his hat.

"Good, ready the main guns. I want you to engage the stealth systems as soon as we come out of that relay," ordered Shepard.

"Aye, aye commander," was Joker's quick reply.

Shepard turned to face the robotic body that had been rebuilt soon after the Crucible firing, now in the co-pilot's seat, "EDI, do you think you can get Citadel Control on the line?"

"Patching you in now, Commander," the smooth, synthesized voice replied. The eyes on her mechanical body closed for a few seconds before a live video feed of an asari was brought up on the holo-display.

"Commander Shepard, this is Alara T'Kai from Citadel Control. Did you get the distress signal?" The asari on screen asked tensely. She seemed very skittish and unsure of herself. Shepard guessed she was new to the job, and was in over her head.

"I did. My ship is a minute out, and we're prepared to offer any assistance needed. Can you give me a sit-rep?" The commander replied calmly, hoping to relax the asari.

"An unknown ship appeared about twenty minutes ago and opened fire. We were taken by complete surprise; before a counter attack could be coordinated, the entire geth fleet stationed here was decimated. Right now, Turian and Alliance fleets are taking fire, and I'm not sure how much more they can take without reinforcements," the asari hesitated momentarily before continuing, "The Asari fleet is occupied, escorting the Destiny Ascension with the council on board. We've received confirmation that Quarian reinforcements are 10 minutes out. The Volus, Salarians, and Batarians have all sent ships, but are still hours away."

"Just one ship? What can you tell me about it?" asked Shepard.

Before she could answer, an explosion shook the ship on the other side of the feed. "Shit!" cried the Asari, ducking her head. Collecting herself, she turned her attention back to the commander. "This ship is massive. It makes the biggest of the Reaper capital ships look small by comparison. It only has one forward mounted gun, but it's powerful. It took out a few dreadnaught class ships with one shot, shields and all.

"Our fleets tried flanking it to take advantage of the gun's blind spot, but it has a fleet of fighters buzzing our ranks. We're unable to maintain defensive formations, and our numbers are dwindling fast."

Shepard nodded before reassuring her, "We're almost there. You've done a great job, Miss T'Kai"

The screen faded as Joker updated the commander, "We're through the relay in 5 seconds."


	2. Chapter 2: Blood in the Water

**I've been combing through the first 7 chapters; editing, tweaking, and adding details to them. I know it's been a long time since I've updated, and I will continue the story, I promise. I'm the kind of person to give up on a project. Take a break from it; yes, but never abandon it. **

**One of the biggest changes I've made so far was to completely change the introduction to the story's background information. This way, I feel, is a bit smoother, as it's now a part of the story, instead of part of the author's notes. If you think I could do something to improve it further, please let me know through private message or review, I'm always open to suggestions.**

**I've also combined the first two chapters, as they were both relatively short. I've also added a quick explanation of Kaiden is up to, as I don't really have room for him in this story, but I'm sure people would still like to know what happened to him.**

**Well, that's all I have to say, other than enjoy reading. (Hopefully I can learn to restrain myself from writing these lengthy author's notes).**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Blood In The Water**

There was a sharp jolt as the Normandy passed through the relay; even the ship's powerful motion dampers couldn't fully compensate for the sudden shed of momentum.

Beyond the viewport, the outline of a massive ship was slowly drifting towards the skeletal form of the half complete citadel. Dozens of frigates and heavy cruisers buzzed in a cloud around the enormous ship. Beams of brilliant red light flashed Thanix lasers were fired at the broadside of the behemoth, seemingly with no effect.

A sudden blinding flash illuminated the clouded nebula; the enemy ship was unleashing its single, gargantuan canon. A massive beam swept through the defense fleet, catching several ships, which burst into flames as the compressed oxygen in their hulls was rapidly released, fueling their explosive combustions.

It was exactly as Joker had said: a real shit storm.

"Christ! Look at that thing! It's bigger than Sovereign!" Joker shouted; his eyes wide at the colossal dreadnaught.

The ship's hulking mass was impressive indeed. As intimidating as it was, the ship was no pretty sight. Between its bulbous shape and mottled grey sides, it looked a little like a bloated corpse.

Deep scars were gouged across its surface; souvenirs gathered from some gruesome battle, long past.

Ripples of blue energy glowed across three tumorous structures on the back end of the ship; some sort of thrusters propelling the dreadnaught's form slowly towards the unfinished citadel.

"Bring us in, Joker. EDI, once we're in range, activate your cyber-warfare protocol, and bring its shields down. See if you can find a weak point while you're at it."

Silence enveloped the bridge as Joker maneuvered the Normandy through the debris of the battle. Only the faint humming of the drive core could be heard; the vacuum of space blocking out the sounds of exploding ships.

"Shepard, I have completed a full scan of the ship," EDI spoke up after a few moments, breaking the silence.

"Good, what have you figured out?" Shepard asked, cocking his head towards the AI.

"I have triple checked all my readings and calculations. After being unable to find access to the dreadnought's network, I ran a sweep for all digital devices on board," EDI turned to face Shepard before continuing, "I found none."

"None?" Shepard repeated, "Is there something disrupting your sensors?"

"Negative," EDI replied, "My sensors are able to reach the ship itself. I am picking of signs of metabolic reactions throughout the ship's body. Its shield is giving off an energy reading that is closer to a biotic barrier than an electronically generated mass effect field. It appears that this ship appears to be entirely organic in construction."

"Holy shit, you mean this thing is alive?" Joker gaped at his robotic co-pilot.

"The reapers were part organic; is this thing some kind remnant of the reapers?" Shepard asked, his mind was swimming at the possibility.

"That is unlikely. The reapers were cybernetic larvae contained within a synthetic outer shell. This ship appears to be entirely organic, with no detectable mechanical parts," EDI reassured him, turning back to face her console.

"Alright, what can you tell me about any weak points?" Shepard asked, shaking his head sharply to clear it of all distracting thoughts.

"Calculating," EDI's electronic voice replied, "The ship's biotic barrier is massive, and encompasses almost the entire ship. The energy readings they give off suggest that they are completely impenetrable by any armament in citadel space."

For a moment, Shepard's heart sank at the news before he latched onto something else EDI said.

"What do you mean it 'encompasses _almost_ the entire ship'?"

EDI's robot body gave a very human grin. "The Rear thrusters appear to be outside of the barrier's protection. The barriers would likely deteriorate their effectiveness if they were inside. Destroying them would result in an explosion powerful enough to take down the barrier, along with most of the ship."

"Well done, EDI." Shepard commended her, clapping a hand on her polymer shoulder. "Joker, you heard her; take out those thrusters."

* * *

The tension in the air aboard the Dreadnought was palpable. The ship's powerful commanding officer stood before her crew, letting her intimidating gaze sweep each of their faces, before bringing her eyes to a holograph of the battle outside.

_Strange, the resistance so far have been far less than expected._

Finally she began to speak, causing her entire crew to hold their breaths, "The enemy is weak. They fight, but they are like leaves fighting the wind. Soon, they will be swept aside; fools for daring to oppose us."

"This will be a day that will be remembered by our people for millennia. This is the day that we strike back, drawing blood from the heart of our enemy; blood rightfully spilled. For every drop of our blood they have taken, a million more we will take from them."

Silence retook the bridge as her speech ended. Only a few seconds passed before the silence was replaced with a roaring cheer from her crew. A wicked smile spread across her face, revealing two sharp fangs.

_Soon, we will see their cities burn._

A deafening wail resounded around the room, abruptly interrupting the cheering.

"Ma'am, there's been a direct hit to one of the rear thruster pods; someone's made it past the barriers," one of the crew members informed her.

"Give me a damage report, now!" she hissed.

"Damage is negligible. Not even a half percent decrease in structural integrity."

The evil smile returned to her face.

_Yes, the enemy truly is weak._

* * *

"Shit! Commander, that was maximum weapon output, and we didn't even scratch the thing," Joker turned to Shepard.

"Ready the main cannon for another shot. Let's hope Garrus can squeeze a bit more power into it this time."

The entire ship began to vibrate, indicating that a deck below, the Thanix cannon was powering up. The lights on the bridge began to flicker as EDI piped up, "I am drawing power from several non-critical functions to increase the weapon's maximum power draw."

There was a wait of several seconds before she spoke again, "Shepard, the Thanix canons are at their limit; further stress on the system could result in ship-wide overload."

Shepard nodded in acknowledgement, "Then let 'er rip, EDI."

There was a sharp jolt as the main gun was fired, unleashing a bright torrent of molten metal at the target. Shepard found himself whispering under his breath.

_A direct hit from the Thanix at full power: that had to have done something. Please let it have done-_

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Shit, we may as well be taking down Godzilla with a water gun," Joker derided, slamming his fists down on the ship's console.

Shepard opened his mouth, about to say something to reassure Joker, when the comm systems squawked to life.

"This is Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema, with the quarian heavy fleet, first division," A familiar voice crackled over the coms, "How may we offer assistance."

Shepard spun his head and looked out the starboard bow; only to be greeted by the sight of ten long rows of enormous canon muzzles protruding out of a dreadnought sized ship's broadside approaching.

"About damn time reinforcements showed up," Shepard smirked, as he opened up the Normandy's com channels, "Admiral; this is Commander Shepard. If that ship there packs even half the punch it looks like it does, then we could use your help."

"Ah, I see you've noticed the Izeana," the quarian admiral replied smugly. "It's the first ship in the last 300 years entirely of Quarian construction. I'll spare you the technical jargon on how it works, but I can assure you; it can outgun anything in the Alliance fleet,"

"Good, we need this thruster taken out," Replied Shepard, shaking his head slowly. Even in the heat of battle, Han'Gerrel still found time to flaunt.

"It will be done. Commander Shepard, I suggest you pull your ship out of the way; the Izean can take it from there," the Han'Gerrel's voice was projected through the console once more.

* * *

There was a deafening roar as an immense shockwave passed through the behemoth ship; tearing gaping holes in bulkheads, and tossing the crew about like ragdolls.

The female warrior sucked in a wheezing gasp to the air that had been knocked out of her lungs.

_Impossible! How could this be?_

Running her tongue across her teeth to check that they were all there, she could taste the metallic tinge of blood that coated her mouth. She brought a three-fingered hand up to her forehead; rubbing a spot that throbbed with pain.

As she slowly stood up, still panting for breath, she was suddenly made aware of the sound of fast-moving wind.

_There's a hull breach!_


	3. Chapter 3: Contact

**The species that Shepard and his crew are about to come into contact with are part of an idea I have for a comic book series. Their backstory, culture, and appearance in this story are the same as in my comic, although adapted slightly in order to fit into the Mass Effect universe.**

**I'd like to also point out; I got the idea for the organic technology this species uses from the "Leviathan" series by Scott Westerfeld (a series I strongly recommend you read if you haven't yet). In fact, the design of the yet un-named dreadnought is inspired heavily by the **_**Leviathan**_** airship itself.**

* * *

Shepard lay on his bed, staring through the skylight above him at the massive carcass of the dreadnought, silhouetted against the glowing nebula.

For the past few hours since the battle ended, ships had been pouring through the relay; construction ships to help with repairs on the citadel, research vessels to analyze the mysterious dreadnought, and military crafts that swarmed around the derelict ship like flies buzzing around carrion. Despite the fact that civilian ships were in lockdown, traffic at the Citadel was at a three hundred year high.

In fact, the last time the citadel had experienced this much traffic had been shortly after the Mourning War, when a mass eviction notice was issued to every Quarian taking up permanent residence on the station.

The soft hiss of the door let the commander know someone had entered the room. He sat up, propping himself up with both arms and gave a warm smile when he saw Tali standing at the doorway.

"I just finished talking to Admiral Xen, hopefully she'll be able to gather some useful tech from that thing, once her ship makes it to the system… though as a biological structure, it seems rather out of her expertise. Hopefully the STG can learn something about it," she said as she crossed the room, descending the small flight of stairs on the way towards the bed.

The bed's box frame creaked slightly as she sat down, taking her place beside him. He placed his arm around her shoulders, allowing her to lean against him. She let out a quiet sigh as she nuzzled her head into his chest.

"Can the galaxy ever be safe for just a few days? Is it possible for us to have some time to ourselves, without you having to run off and save everyone?" she whispered.

Shepard chuckled. "Maybe one day, my love," he replied, sliding his free hand into hers.

It was in that position that the two eventually drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_F__ire streaks the sky as artillery shelled rain down on the ruined city. The screams of people burning alive filled the ears of a teenage girl, one of the settlement's now homeless residents. The once fertile soil was now scorched and barren, the ancient forest around the city, that once grew lush, beautiful, and green, was now smoldering ash._

_The burning pile of rubble in front of her shifted, and a woman stumbled out of the flames. The woman's face was charred, pieces of blistered flesh peeled back to reveal the blackened muscle and skull beneath. In her arms she clutched a small infant, swaddled in tarnished yellow rags._

"_Please, take my baby! Save her!" the woman croaked in a strangled voice, holding the bundle out to the teen._

"_No, I… I can't," she replied, tears of sheer terror streak her face._

"_Please, I beg you, take my baby!" the woman rasped once more, offering the child in her outstretched arms._

_Without warning, the face of the woman before her suddenly exploded; splattering blood and fragments of skull. The woman's arms, now completely limp, drop the baby with a thud before the woman's lifeless body collapsed under its own weight. From behind the fallen body, a four-eyed demon steped forwards; its weapon raised._

"_Please! Don't kill me! I'll do whatever you want; I'll show you where the refugees are hidden, just please spare me," she pleaded; a coward in her last moments._

_The demon points its weapon at her, and without blinking, fired._

The warrior aboard the enormous ship woke abruptly, wrenching herself out of the memory. Despite the memory originally belonging to a person now long dead, it had been as vivid as any of her own.  
She shook her head sharply, snapping herself back to the present; back to the deck of her crippled ship.

Her head pounded as her brain screamed for oxygen. The muddled blaring of sirens reached her ears; the sound was distorted by the thin air still contained within the torn hull of the ship. Her vision was dark and blurry as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"I need… I need to find…" She spoke, but was unable to complete her sentence before falling into unconciousness once again.

* * *

An hour later, Shepard's eyes opened slowly. Tali was still lying down, her head nestled against his chest in the exact same possition. She herself had already drifted off; the glowing dots of her eyes no longer visible behind her mask.

It had been a long time since the two of them were able to spend time like this together. Between rescuing stranded individuals, combatting an ever-growing population of pirates, and eliminating the last pockets of Cerberus resistance, the aftermath of the reaper invasion had kept them on almost constant duty for the past three years.

Shepard gazed down at the quarian's sleeping form with tender love. He had been planning for the past few months to propose to her; but he was always interrupted by a new mission. It seemed like the galaxy wouldn't give them the peace they needed, and he wanted it to be just perfect.

"Commander Shepard, I apologize for interrupting, but there's a priority transmission from the council for you," Specialist Traynor's voice filtered through the cabin, cutting through the silence.

"Thank you, Traynor. Patch it through to my personal terminal, I'll take it there." Careful not to wake her, Shepard tenderly lifted Tali's head and stood up, carefully propping a pillow under her helmet.

Crossing to his desk, he activated the com terminal behind the display case which housed his model ships. The console lit up, projecting the holographic figure of Mathias Kroner; Humanity's representative on the council.

Shepard had never spoken to the councillor before, but based on news reports and interviews he had seen, he had gathered that Mathias was a seasoned diplomat, having served as the President of the European Parliament for two and a half years.

He was very tolerant of the other races, even the Batarians that most of humanity still held a grudge for. The only downside to Mathias was that he had hardly any experience in war. Only time would tell how he would handle a military conflict.

"Councillor," Shepard nodded curtly to the hologram.

"Commander Shepard," The councillor replied tersely, "The council has come to a decision; we face too many unknowns to immediately send in science teams. We have no clue what kind of resistance could be faced if the crew is still alive.

"We want you to infiltrate the craft, and secure it so we can send people in to pick it apart for study. Your priority will be capturing any crew members if they're still alive. You are not to use lethal force unless there is no alternative. Assemble your team, and prepare to dock; the other councillors will contact you once you're ready and give you your full briefing."

Shepard nodded once more, before deactivating the terminal; allowing the hologram to fade.

"Shepard?" A groggy voice called out from the bed, "Who was that?"

"The human councillor," he replied, stepping around the corner to face Tali, who was now sitting upright. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, I tried to be quite."

"Don't worry about it," She responded, stifling a yawn.

She extended her arms over her head and stretched, allowing her back to arch. Shepard took a moment to drink in the sight of her curvy body, accentuated by her skin-tight environmental suit.

"Sounds like I'd better go get my gear," she said, her voice now sounded more awake.

Shepard nodded, "If you're not too tired. You're welcome to stay here and sleep though; can just take Garrus and Javik."

Tali tilted her head slightly, a signal that she was smiling behind her mask. "You three wouldn't know what to do without me there. Besides, I'm not letting you have all the fun."

* * *

Garrus, Tali, and Shepard, now fully armed and equipped, were aboard the Normandy's shuttle. Garrus had taken to inspecting his Vindicator assault rifle, while Shepard went over schematics EDI had produced of the dreadnought.

"So, we just head in, and capture any of the survivors from the crew? That sounds simple enough," Garrus recounted their mission parameters, looking out one of the Kodiak's viewports at the dreadnought carcass as they passed into its enormous shadow.

From the opposite side of the passenger hold, Tali replied, "If we can capture them. You're forgetting the fact that whatever crew is in there will be a species we've never encountered, armed with technology we know nothing about."

"Glad to see you're looking on the bright side," Garrus scoffed; flexing his mandibles in mild irritation.

"She's right; we don't know what we're up against. We're basically heading in blind, so keep your guard up," Shepard cut in, typing at his Omni-tool to bring up a hologram of the dreadnought.

"The scans that EDI's taken of the ship give us a very general idea of what the inside of this thing looks like. We'll be heading here," Shepard pointed at the projection to a section that was now lit green.

"Based on the data I've been able to acquire, the area you will be exploring is most likely the bridge, and therefore the most likely place to find any of the ship's crew," EDI's synthetic voice said over the shuttle's com system.

Shepard nodded, "Exactly, that's why we need to be careful."

"It's a big ship; I can't imagine the council would want just the three of us to cover the entire thing." Garrus asked.

"The Salarian STG is providing a few infiltration squads, Aralakh Company is going to be there, and I think Han'Gerrel is assigning some Quarian marines," Shepard replied.

"Aralakh Company? That means Grunt's here at the Citadel. I haven't seen him in almost four years, I hope we get a chance to see him," Tali spoke up.

"Maybe, but for now, let's focus on the task ahead," the commander answered.

"Commander, I've found a landing zone; I'm bringing the shuttle in now," Cortez cut across the conversation, leaning around the corner from the cockpit.

The shuttle touched down softly, just inside a cavernous gash in the dreadnought's broadside, plunging them into the belly of the beast; literally.

"Artificial gravity seems to be present, although I cannot pinpoint its source," EDI reported over the squad's com system as the descended from the Shuttle.

An eerie green glow was emitted from the gently sloping walls, illuminating the cavity they now stood in. Large pustules protruded from the ground and walls, along the gash they had entered from. Translucent ooze was dripping from ceiling, coating the floor with a slippery film.

Movement in his peripheral vision caught Shepard's attention. Upon examining the source, he realized the walls were covered in thin cilia, oscillating back and forth, causing slight ripples along the cavity's length.

"Keelah, this is an animal? I've never seen anything like this!" Tali exclaimed, planting a foot on the soft floor.

"I'd be surprised if you had," Garrus replied, surveying their surroundings, "I don't understand how an animal could survive in space, with no oxygen, no water, no food, as well as handle the radiation without a metallic skin like us Turians have. It just goes against everything we've ever known about biology."

Sheppard continued walking forward, "that's just one more thing we'll find out once we find the crew."

Silence ensued as the trio came to an opening at the far end of the cavity. Cautiously, Shepard stepped through, to find himself at the end of a long tunnel. Tali and Garrus followed close behind, staring in wonder at their surroundings. All around, the same eerie glow they had seen before radiated from the walls.

There was a loud gasp as Tali stepped in a puddle of the ooze dripping from the ceiling and slipped. Reflexively, Shepard stuck out his arm to catch her.

"Careful there, Miss," he said flirtatiously, setting her back on her feet.

"It's a good thing I have a big, strong commander to catch me," She replied, smiling a toothy grin behind her visor.

Garrus shook his head at the two of them. "It's the damn geth dreadnought all over again. How about we wait until we're not smack-dab in some enemy ship for you guys to start your mating ritual?" He flexed his mandibles into a sly smirk as he walked ahead of the couple.

"Hey, what can I say? Danger's a turn on," Shepard joked back.

"Right. Remind me never to go anywhere dangerous with you alone," Garrus chortled.

Tali was just about to interject, when Garrus stopped in his tracks. "Shepard, I found one," he said as he kneeled before an unmoving shape on the floor.

Shepard stooped down beside the turian, with Tali close behind.

Before them, curled up in the fetal position, was the body of a male humanoid alien, garbed in a dusty blue robe. Well, it looked like a male, at least in human standards. It was rather skinny, but with proportionally broad shoulders, and no noticeable… um… 'assets'.

Its skin was a pale, translucent grey and shoulder-length silky white hair was tucked behind long, tapered ears on the side of the alien's head. Its pupil-less eyes, still wide open, were a luminous white. Around each eye was a thick, dark black ring that came to a sharp point along the bridge of its nose.

It's long, lanky arms ended in thin, three-fingered hands. It's legs were plantigrade, bending the same way as a human's.

"It looks almost quarian," Shepard said in wonder

Tali scoffed, "It looks nothing like a quarian, look at the legs, the facial markings, and the ears."

"Quarian or not, this one's dead, let's keep looking," Shepard stood up and gestured down the tunnel, "Come on, if EDI's right, the bridge is just ahead."

* * *

_This is the greatest embarrassment my people could suffer. Our vanguard failed, and now I'm left here to die a slow and painful death._

The warrior had been struggling in and out of consciousness for nearly two hours, but to her it felt like eternity. The torment that she was teetering on the verge of death filled her oxygen starved brain.

_I can at least take peace in knowing that the swift and overpowering wrath of my people will avenge my death. As I sit here, the fleet is awaiting my report. When it doesn't arrive, they will know something went wrong, and they will flood the skies of the enemy's world. _

A muffled, indistinguishable voice brought her attention to a figure garbed in purple armour that now stood in front of her.

"I don't remember seeing you come in… am I hallucinating?" she asked, staring back at the figure, at its two luminous eyes behind it's frosted visor.

"Are you one of my crew? Have you come to rescue me?"

A strange noise was issued from the figure as it turned its head over its shoulder. Instantly, two new figures appeared on either side of the first.

"I… I…" the warrior tried to speak, but couldn't get the words out before collapsing to the ground once more.

* * *

"Shit, they're all dead," Shepard cast his gaze around the room at the bodies scattered across the floor; each one, clearly the same species as the body they had encountered before.

"It's not surprizing, the air that's still left in this room is extremely thin; I doubt anything would be able to survive in here," Garrus replied from beside him.

Just as they were about to get up and keep moving, Tali's voice called from the far side of the room, "Shepard, come quick; I've got a live one."

Careful not to step on any of the bodies, Shepard ran as fast as he could to her side.

Before them, another one of the aliens was slumped against the wall, it's eyes fluttering; trying to stay open. Immediately, Shepard noticed something different about this one; all the other bodies they had examined had been male, but this alien was clearly female. Instead of the pale blue robes that garbed the others, she was clad in a suit of heavy, plated armour.

"Hevah… hevah…" The alien murmured, as its eyes finally closed.

"Quick, we need to get her out of here," Shepard said hastily. Pressing his finger to the side of his helmet, he spoke through his com system, "Cortez, get the shuttle prepped for take-off, we're headed back to your position."

"Aye, aye, Commander," came the response.

As he tenderly picked up the passed out alien, an orange glow in the corner of the room caught his attention. Turning his head towards the light, he found himself looking at the holographic projection of a-

_No, that can't be possible..._

* * *

**If you're reason this new species looks so similar to the quarians, it's because that's what I based them off of. When I started thinking up ideas for alien species to include in my comic series, I wanted one that one race that was very similar to humans, in order to use one as the female lead. I wanted something that would look attractive, and of the Mass Effect alien races, IMO the quarians are the most attractive (some may argue the asari are, but the whole tentacles-on-the-head thing just doesn't appeal with me). When I first drew the character, I basically just drew what I thought Tali looked like under her mask (this was before ME3 was released), and changed some minor details, such as the ears and the legs. (I personally think it's funny that people still seem to think Quarians have elven ears. In ME2, there's an Asari that mentions "what passes for ears on a quarian", which leads me to believe they have something like a snake or a lizard; just a hole in the side of the head.)**


	4. Chapter 4: Four Eyed Demon

**Chapter 4: **

Sheppard gently cradled the unconscious alien in his arms, the sharp, bony protrusions on her shoulder of her armor was jabbing him uncomfortably in the ribs. Tali stood beside him, pressing a gauze bandage against a deep gash in the alien's forehead. Silvery, metallic blood flowed from the wound, staining the gloves of Tali's enviro-suit.

She shifted her pressure on the cloth, taking a half step away from the bleeding woman. Despite the fact that the alien was unconscious, Tali was uncomfortable being right beside her.

Shepard noticed her discomfort.

"You're doing good, Tali, just keep the pressure on it," Shepard spoke softly, reassuring the nervous quarian. She nodded slightly, not removing her watchful gaze from the alien.

A slight jolt passed through the shuttle as it touched down on the smooth metal surface of the Normandy's shuttle bay.

"Commander, we're secured," Cortez reported from the cockpit, typing in a command to open the door.

"EDI, tell Dr. Chakwas to prepare a bed in the med-bay, ASAP," Shepard ordered, speaking into his helmet as he turned to exit the Kodiak.

Before the commander could take a step out of the shuttle, Garrus placed a hand on his shoulder. "Shepard, is it really a good idea to bring that thing aboard? Shouldn't we take it to the council and let them handle it?"

"Garrus, she's the only person who can tell us what's going on and why." He answered, looking Garrus directly in the eye. "She's seriously hurt and needs treatment. We don't know yet how much she suffered from being exposed to such a thin atmosphere for so long, and I don't want to take any chances. The Citadel is badly damaged, so the Normandy currently has the most advanced medical facilities in the system, not to mention the most qualified medical expert on xenobiology in the Systems Alliance."

After a momentary hesitation, Garrus dropped his gaze in defeat and moved out of the way.

"The council still needs to know about this," Tali spoke up, closely following Shepard out of the shuttle, still holding the wound.

Shepard nodded, realizing that she was right, and once again, he addressed the ship's AI, "EDI, could you forward all relevant data in a report to the council, and request a video conference with them? Also, I need a ship-wide announcement for all marines to gear up and head to the med bay."

"Right away, Commander," EDI replied.

As the AI broadcasted the order over the ship's intercom system, Shepard, Tali, and Garrus stepped into the elevator; the alien in tow.

As the elevator began to ascend, Shepard inwardly sighed.

_Why can't the galaxy just stay saved?_

* * *

"Shepard, why in god's name are there-," Dr. Chakwas began, as Shepard walked into the med bay. She cut herself off as she noticed the injured alien in his arms. "My god, who… what is that?"

"A survivor from that dreadnought," Shepard answered as he tenderly set her onto an open bed, "We need her alive if we're going to question her. Can you help her?"

"You're asking me to provide treatment to a member of a species I've never seen before? This goes way above my pay grade," Chakwas responded, looking up at Shepard in mild disbelief.

"If anyone can do it, it's you," Shepard answered with a smile, as he lightly patted the doctor on the shoulder.

"Oh, you flatter me," She said with feigned enthusiasm as she rolled her eyes, "Very well; I'll see what I can do."

"I appreciated it, doc."

Turning to address the marines now assemble in the room, he spoke with a commanding tenor, "Marines, you are to guard this med bay. If the alien wakes up and attempts to escape, you are to use non-lethal force to restrain her." He gave a pause to allow his words to sink in, "Lethal force is only permitted in the event that she shows intent to kill, do I make myself clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!" came the sharp reply from the men.

With a crisp salute, he walked marched out of the med bay, followed closely by Garrus.  
Tali made to follow, but Chakwas held her back, "No, Tali, I need you to keep pressure on that wound while I analyze her blood."

Tali let out an exasperated sigh as Chakwas continued, "Don't huff; I need to know her amino acid type so I know what antiseptics and sedatives won't kill her."

* * *

Shepard and Garrus now stood in the war room, the shimmering holographs of the councillors hovered before them.

"Commander Shepard, according to your report, the prisoner is currently aboard your ship, completely unrestrained. Is that true?" asked Tevos, the Asari councillor.

"Yes and no, madam councillor. The prisoner is currently unconscious and surrounded by fifteen well-armed Alliance marines. My ship's doctor has set up a rig, that when triggered, will instantly release a powerful sedative into the prisoner's bloodstream," Shepard answered calmly.

"Shepard, this council has full faith in you and your decisions; however, I believe it to be in all of our best interests to have additional security around this prisoner." Tevos responded, "We are, after all, dealing with a complete unknown, and none of us have any idea as to what she's capable of."

"Of course, I welcome any help I can get," Shepard replied to the hologram, bowing respectfully.

"Very well, the council will send additional security to the Normandy within the next half hour. Please be careful, Shepard," Tevos said, finally ending the transmission.

* * *

Nearly an hour later, three teams chosen by the council stood assembled in the CIC. Much to Garrus' delight, one of those teams was a squad of quarian marines ("maybe we'll stock up on dexro food that doesn't taste like varren ass," he commented wryly, much to the ire of the Normandy's mess officer), as well as a group of salarian STG operatives, and the greatest warriors Tuchanka had to offer; Aralakh Company.

A quarian in a dark red enviro-suit stepped had been the first to address the commander, rigidly saluting, "Lieutenant Tar'Dis vas Izeana, reporting, sir!"

"At ease," Shepard replied calmly, returning the salute, "I take it you're in charge of these marines, Tar?"

"Yes sir," the quarian replied, allowing himself to relax slightly, "Though Admiral Han'Gerrel has instructed us to follow any command you give us."

"Glad to hear it," Shepard replied, "though I don't plan on usurping your position. Your men are your men, and thus should follow your orders. If I need something from your squad, I'll tell you personally."

Tar'Dis nodded. "Thank you, Commander. I'll take my men to the prisoner now."

With that, a salarian wearing a white lab uniform stepped forward to replace Tar, who lead his men to the ship's elevator. The Salarian held his hand out to Sheppard and said. "Commander, my name is Padok Wiks. We met briefly on Sur'Kesh three years ago, during the reaper invasion."

Shepard accepted the outstretched hand of the Salarian scientist before him, and gave it a firm shake.

"Padok, I remember you. I'm glad you made it out of that base safely," Shepard said, smiling warmly at, taking note of the bulking shape that had appeared directly behind the salarian.

"Shepard!" Grunt roared, causing both Padok to jump.

"Grunt, good to see you," Shepard couldn't help but grin at the young krogan, as he gave the hulking soldier a once-over. Grunt had definitely grown up since Shepard had last seen him nearly three years ago. Some of the bony ridges on his head had fused together, and the hump on his back had noticeably grown. His hide was pitted with numerous scars, many of which appeared to be relatively fresh. One of these scars ran down the side of his face; over his left eye, which was white and clouded over.

Grunt let out a low, rumbling chuckle, "I've been having trouble finding enough enemies to fight ever since we kicked the reapers' asses, but it sounds like that problem is going to fix itself pretty soon. I heard we're about to be attacked by some kind new foe."

Shepard let out a sigh, before addressing all three of the squad leaders, "The citadel was attacked by members of an unknown race. We have the only survivor from the ship that attacked here on the Normandy. The council brought you in for added security, but hopefully we won't need it. It's pretty straight forward." He then addressed both Grunt and Padok, "I'm assuming you've been briefed on your assignments?"

Before any of them could respond, Tali walked up beside Sheppard and huffed, "Chakwas says she'd managed to pull the alien into a stable condition, but she's not sure how long until it wakes up."

Sheppard nodded and replied, "Thanks Tali."

"You'd better be thankful" Tali grumbled, turning to Shepard, "I'll be on the top deck, trying to scrub that thing's blood out of my suit if you need me."

Shepard patted her on the shoulder, giving an apologetic look.

"Next time you need someone to look after your new alien friend, ask Garrus to do it," Tali whispered as she turned towards the elevator, half joking, and half serious.

Sheppard briefly watched as she walked away before turning back to the group before him.

"Interesting." Padok said, having watched the exchange. "Acting in such a manner towards the commanding officer in such a setting…"

Beside him, Grunt chuckled. "The woman always wears the pants in any relationship."

"A relationship you say?" Padok question, and then turned to Shepard. "Is it sexual?"

Shepard merely blinked at the forwardness of the question.

"There has been such little research done on Quarian/Human cross-species mating, due in combination to the risks involved for Quarians, and the relatively recent appearance of Humans on the galactic stage. Would you share the details of your intercourse?"

"Er…" Shepard began, "…I'll think about it."

"Perverted little pyjak." Grunt muttered under his breath, though he seemed to have a hard time not grinning at the Commander's discomfort.

"Right, well, the prisoner is on deck three, if you and your teams want to get to your post," Shepard said, pulling himself back to focus on the task at hand, "Padok, tell Dr. Chakwas that I have granted you permission to run non-evasive tests on the alien."

As Padok led the squad of STGs away, Grunt stayed behind to catch up with Shepard, telling Aralakh company to head on without him.

"Heh, still mating with the quarian?" Grunt asked, a smirk plastered on his face.

"Don't worry, big guy, you'll find someone too," Sheppard joked, patting the krogan on the shoulder.

The krogan simply scowled, "I'll have you know I have a mate waiting for me on Tuchanka."

"Oh really? What's her name?" Shepard asked.

Grunt grumbled, "I said she was waiting for me. I haven't found her yet."

Shepard let out a laugh.

* * *

When the elevator finally arrived at his quarters later that night, Shepard tiredly stumbled out and was greeted by a sight that instantly snapped him out of his drowsy state.

Stretched out in a provocative pose across his bed was Tali, sporting nothing but the unbuttoned jacket of one of his Alliance uniforms.

Upon seeing him enter, she sat up slowly and smiled, flashing her pearly white teeth. She pushed a single finger against her lower lip, and in a smooth, seductive tone, she called out to Shepard, "I've been a bad girl, I need my captain to teach me how to behave properly."

"You know, that jacket breaches Alliance uniform regulations," Shepard replied, stepping slowly towards the bed, "You'd better take it off before you get into even more trouble,"

With a sheepish grin, Tali replied, "Well, if my captain wants me to…"

* * *

Boom!

The gunshot of Thane's sniper rifle echoed around the cavernous room as he took down a collector that was trying to force Shepard out of cover.

Shepard nodded to the drell in thanks before popping out of cover, unloading his assault rifle into the chitinous torso of another collector.

As he ducked behind cover once again, Shepard heard his earpiece buzz with Tali's voice. "Shepard, it's getting hotter in here, you need to open that valve."

"Hang tight, Tali, we're almost there," Shepard responded, trying to reassure her. He peaked over his shelter from the firefight, trying to sight the controls for the next valve. As soon as he spotted them across the room, a collector guardian fired its particle beam directly at Shepard's head, forcing him to duck down.

As soon as he heard a break in the enemy fire, he vaulted out of cover, charging towards the controls.

"Shepard, hurry, I'm getting cooked alive!" Tali's panicked voice buzzed in his ear once again.

_Shit, just a little further_

Suddenly, a collector popped up in front of him, unleashing a hail of bullets. Shepard's shields screamed as they were brought down, forcing him to take refuge behind a crate. In his flight, a bullet pierced his shoulder, causing him to hiss in pain.

"Shepard, I can't… the heat… it's just too-," Tali spluttered, before his earpiece went dead silent.

"Tali!" Shepard shouted. There was no response.

* * *

"Tali!"

Shepard sat bolt-upright, drenched in a cold sweat.

"Shit, another dream", he mumbled to himself as he kneaded the sleep from his eyes. As he let out a yawn, he became aware that he was alone in his bed.

Panic overtook him for a brief moment before his ears registered the sound of running water, overlapped by a feminine voice humming an unfamiliar tune. As soon as he pieced together that Tali was in the shower, he allowed himself to relax, sliding back down into the bed.

A few minutes passed, as Shepard lay there, enjoying the sound of the mysterious tune being hummed by the quarian in the next room. Eventually, the sound of the running water subsided as the shower was shut off.

"Commander Shepard," EDI's voice filtered through the intercom, pulling Shepard from his trance "the prisoner has just regained consciousness. Dr. Chakwas asked me to inform you."

"Thanks, EDI," Shepard sighed; pushing the bed covers off, and slowly rose to his feet.

"Did you sleep well, Commander?" EDI asked, a tone of concern was apparent in her voice.

"Not exactly, but I'll be fine," He replied. As he reached his locker, he added, "Thanks for asking."

As he opened his locker and pulled on his uniform, Tali stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a blue towel that was emblazoned with the Systems Alliance insignia.

"Good morning, Beautiful," Shepard smiled over his shoulder at her.

"Morning," she replied, returning his smile as she walked over to her enviro-suit, which was tossed haphazardly in a pile on the floor.

"I guess our guest is awake, do you want to come with me to say hi?" Shepard asked, before sliding his shirt over his head.

Tali gave a nervous frown before responding, "Not really."

Now fully dressed, Shepard began walking towards the elevator. "I suspected as much, but I figured I'd ask."

* * *

As the elevator jolted to a stop on the crew deck, an idea suddenly struck Shepard.

_This is a never before seen species, it's almost certain we won't be able to understand what ever language she speaks, and likewise, she won't be able to understand us. If we want to ask her questions, we'll need some way to translate._

Shepard spoke into the air, "EDI, could you call Javik to the med bay?"

"Right away, commander," she replied.

_Protheans have the ability to transfer memories through touch. That's how we could understand Javik when we met him; he picked up English when he came into contact with me. He'll be able to pick up the alien's language and translate._

As Shepard passed the mess hall, he noticed Dr. Chakwas sitting alone at a table, picking over the food in front of her.

"It's quite crowded in there," She said, catching the commander's questioning gaze, "I hope you're not claustrophobic."

Shepard nodded in acknowledgement as he continued towards the door. As it slid open, he realized she wasn't kidding; the room was packed.

Hastily pushing through the crowd, being sure to say "excuse me", and "sorry", when he accidentally stepped on the foot of a quarian marine. As he approached the far end of the room, he made a mental note to have the prisoner transferred to the shuttle bay, where there was more room, once the STG had finished with their tests.

As the crowd parted to give Shepard room to maneuver, he could see the prisoner perched cross-legged on one of the beds, her eyes closed, and her thin hands folded under her chin. She looked oddly relaxed for someone who was being held captive on an alien ship, surrounded by dozens of well-armed guards.

Beside her stood Padok Wiks, who was waving his omni-tool over the suit of bony armour she wore. As soon as he noticed Shepard, he deactivated the scan, and turned to face him.

"Padok, what can you tell me about our guest?" inquired Shepard, giving the alien another glance. Up close he noticed several small scars on her chin and neck. Despite her frail appearance, she had clearly been in a fair number of fights.

"Based on blood samples, I've been able to deduce that we are in fact dealing with a never before encountered species," Padok replied plainly, "The species is bi-gendered, mammalian, and has Levo based DNA. Based on genetic markers, I estimate their lifespan to be slightly shorter than a humans, at somewhere between 80 and 100 years. This particular specimen seems to be quite young; between the ages of 16 and 22."

Shepard nodded, taking the information in as Grunt stepped forward. "She looks like she's seen battle, and lots of it. Impressive, for a 16 year old. You think she'd be up for a fight against a krogan?"

Padok continued with his report, ignoring Grunt, "Her armour intrigued me, so I ran some tests on it, and found something unexpected." He paused for effect, "It's entirely organic."

"You mean, it's made from some kind of animal bones?" Shepard asked, frowning in confusion. That seemed rather primitive for a space-faring race.

"not quite," The salarian answered, "The armour itself is a living being, bio-engineered to sustain extremely strenuous trauma, and capable of speedy and extensive regeneration. It's likely the reason she survived the initial explosion, while the rest of the unarmed crew perished."

"My god… it's alive?" Shepard was shocked by the revelation.

"Her race is capable of creating an entirely organic spacefaring dreadnought, the concept of a living suit of armour is not that surprising," Padok pointed out.

"Just how much of a beating can it take," Shepard inquired, still shocked at what Padok had told him.

"I attempted to take a core sample with a drilling laser capable of breaking through the armour of an Everest class Alliance dreadnought, but it had no effect. I'm sure that will give you an idea."

Shepard shook his head in disbelief. "Has anyone attempted to communicate with her yet?"

"No, we were instructed by the council that as a SPECTRE, and therefore an official council representative, you were to be the one who initiated contact," the Salarian answered.

"Thank you Padok, I'll see what I can do from here." Shepard walked over to the alien, studying her carefully. "Can you understand me?"

Slowly, the alien opened her white luminous eyes, directing them up towards the commander. Unlike Tali's, these eyes seemed cold and devoid of emotion. Shepard fought the urge to shiver as her gaze met his.

Several seconds passed as the alien's piercing stare bore into the Commander before she wordlessly closed them again. It seemed as Shepard had expected; she couldn't understand him.

He sighed and turned away, slightly disappointed. Suddenly, his attention was drawn to the med bay doors as they slid open, revealing a familiar figure.

"Commander, you wished to see me?" Javik asked, as he stepped in, allowing the doors to shut behind him.

"Yes, I was hoping you could-," Sheppard began, but was cut off by a blood-curdling screech behind him.

Turning quickly on his heel, Shepard saw the alien standing up; her bright eyes no longer were devoid of emotion, but rather radiated a burning rage of crimson red. As she flexed her hands, a blue aura enveloped her.

"Restrain her!" Shepard shouted, directing the order to the dozens of guards, whose guns were now trained on the enraged alien.

As three krogans ran towards, she let out a biotic shockwave that sent them flying back, knocking over most of the guards in the room.

"For 70 000 years, my people have waited for this moment, you will not stop me!" She cried, pouncing on a confused and terrified Javik. She raised up a glowing blue fist, ready to bring it down with all her might. "I am the first of the Orotari people to spill the blood of the four-eyed demons in 70 000 years!"

As he hurtled her biotically charged fist towards Javik's unprotected head, Padok Wiks drew out a gun and shot. A small, metal dart embedded itself in her exposed neck, knocking her out instantly.

As Javik rolled the unconscious alien off of him, Shepard let out a sigh of relief, allowing himself to sit down on the now vacant bed behind him.

"Ha!" Grunt shouted, picking himself up off the floor, "So powerful for such a small girl. When she wakes up, I want to fight her!"

* * *

**Yes, the name Tar'Dis was obviously a Doctor Who reference. I personally am not a huge fan of the doctor, but I know there are a lot of people out there who are.**

**Next chapter: The unknown alien wakes up, and Shepard finds out why she wants Javik dead. Also, another familiar face appears aboard the Normandy.**


	5. Chapter 5: Revelations

**Before I get into this next chapter, I'd like to point out that I've added a cover to this fanfic. The picture on the cover is of the alien that is the focus of this story. If you'd like to see a better quality picture, I've uploaded a sketch page to Deviant Art of the character. Here's the link if you're interested: **** theshreddoctor~.deviantart.~com/art/Qi-ina-Refference-314395152 (just delete the '~'s)**

* * *

"Biotics, you say? This is a startling revelation." The salarian councillor's hologram took a step back in shock.

Since the incident in the med bay, the alien had been subdued and transported to the shuttle bay, where she was now imprisoned within a mass effect field.

Noting how she had the strength to overpower several krogan, Shepard wasn't taking any chances. He had decided to contact the council in order to request further re-enforcements.

"There are many species capable of using biotic powers, I don't see how this is such a surprise," the turian councillor frowned at the salarian.

"You see," the salarian replied, "Biotic capabilities are the result of exposure to element zero; this is a well-known fact. This means that this new species, the orotari, as they apparently call themselves, has access to element zero."

The turian shook his head, "I still don't see your point; the stuff is scattered across the galaxy."

The salarian rubbed the bridge of his nose, or rather, the space between his eyes, "The research teams we've sent aboard their ship have reported finding absolutely no trace of element zero on board. This species has access to element zero, and yet there is none on their ship; as ship that dwarfs our largest dreadnoughts, and yet is still capable of FTL travel. How is this possible?"

The turian's eyes widened slightly with realization, and several other council members looked shocked as well.

"Perhaps we can ask the alien once she has regained consciousness, but in the meantime, perhaps we should focus on Shepard's request," the asari councillor said, seemingly unfazed.

Shepard nodded, "Thank you councillor. I'd like to ask for more security, including at least one biotic specialist."

"Granted," the asari replied plainly, "In fact, I had already taken the liberty of requesting a biotic specialist upon receiving your report. She'll arrive within the hour; I'm sure you'll find her to be more than adequate."

"Thank you, councillors," Shepard replied, bowing slightly to the holograms.

Before he could reach the controls to deactivate the projector, the quarian councillor stepped forward with her arm raised. "If you have a moment, Shepard, I'd like to hear more about why the alien attacked. According to your report, she was docile until the prothean entered the room."

"Yes, she seemed to ignore everyone else in the room, only attacking them if they were in her way; her main focus was on Javik, the prothean serving on my crew. Before she attempted to kill him, she said something about her people vowing revenge on 'the four eyed demons'," Shepard answered.

"Incredible," the salarian noted, "These 'orotari' appears to have once been in contact with the protheans, making them predate the previous reaper invasion. How did they survive?"

The asari councillor turned her attention to Shepard, "Commander, you said you could understand her?"

Shepard nodded, "According to Javik, she was speaking prothean. The cipher I acquired on Feros allows me to both speak and understand the language."

"Fascinating," the salarian councillor admired, slowly rubbing his chin with one of his hands.

* * *

Now in the shuttle bay, Shepard stepped towards the makeshift prison cell, noting its occupant was awake, sitting in the corner in much the same position she had been when he first saw her in the med bay.

"She's up, why was I not alerted?" Shepard asked to the crowd of guards around the cell.

"My apologies, commander," Padok Wiks stepped forward, "She just now regained consciousness. I was about to call for you when you appeared."

"That's alright. Just make sure to keep me up to date with her status," Shepard replied, approaching the mass effect shield.

"Let me in, I need to talk to her," the commander said to the quarian engineer who was maintaining the shield generator.

With a nod, the quarian typed a few keys into his console, dropping a section of the barrier.

"What's your name?" Shepard asked in careful prothean, slowly stepping towards the woman. Behind him, the barrier reformed, trapping him inside.

"You understand the language of the prothean filth," she replied, nearly hissing as she brought her cold gaze up towards Shepard.

Taking a seat on the floor beside her, Shepard nodded, "As do you."

The alien remained quiet, her eyes still boring into Shepard. He resisted the overwhelming urge to shudder. Instead, he leaned back, resting against the wall behind him, hoping to seem relaxed to the alien beside him.

"You still haven't answered me yet, what's you're name" Shepard said, hoping she would answer this time.

Once again, she remained silent.

"My name is Shepard, Commander John Shepard of the Systems Alliance Navy, and commanding officer of the Normandy, which is the ship you're aboard right now," He offered.

As she remained silent, Shepard sighed, "Look, I need to know what to call you. I can't just say 'you' all the time."

After a brief pause, she finally spoke, "You may address me as Qi'ina."

"Qi'ina," Shepard tested the name out.

"Yes, tell your prothean friend. Tell him it is the name of the warrior who will end his life," she said, her cold, emotionless expression broke in favour of a malicious smile.

Shepard stared at her sharp incisors for a minute, before asking, "Why do you hate the protheans?"

"Hate is a word that doesn't even come close to describing my feelings towards the four-eyed demons," Qi'ina replied, the grin fading from her face, "They are the sworn enemy of the orotari people."

"Orotari," Shepard said, "That's the name of your species?"

Qi'ina merely scowled and didn't reply.

"I am human," Shepard said, holding a hand over his chest, and then pointed outside the cell, "Those big guys are krogan, the little ones with the horns are salarian, and the ones with the helmets are quarian."

Qi'ina smirked, "More weak-willed races who bow down before their prothean oppressors?"

"No," Shepard replied, shaking his head, "The power in the galaxy is evenly shared between species."

Qi'ina's head jerked so suddenly to look at Shepard, he thought her neck might snap. The cold, contemptuous look on her face was replaced with one of genuine shock.

As she quickly regained her composure she said, "So the protheans have changed their ways."

"No," Shepard said, sighing, "They are extinct. The prothean you attacked earlier is the last of his kind."

Once again, shock crossed Qi'ina's face before it was quickly replace with her toothy grin, "I see. So, I merely need to kill him, and there kind will disappear forever. Who must I thank for their demise?"

Shepard hesitated before answering, "50 000 years ago, a race of hyper-advanced machines called 'reapers' arrived and wiped them out. They existed to harvest galactic life in a cycle of extinctions."

"They 'existed'?" Qi'ina asked.

"I destroyed them." Shepard flatly answered.

There was a pause before Qi'ina spoke again, "The last prothean in existence is a welcome member of your crew, and the ones who brought about their extermination were killed by your hands. I wonder… should I kill you?"

Ignoring the cold stare he was receiving, Shepard asked, "Why does your kind hate the protheans?"

Slowly, Qi'ina reached a three fingered hand to his forehead, as she said, "Let me show you."

Shepard gasped as the hand made contact with his head. There was a sudden charge of energy, before the cell around him disappeared, to be replaced by a new scene.

* * *

To his right, enormous trees with deep red trunks, and vibrant blue-green leaves sprouted from the rocky, stretching far upward into the sky, seemingly reaching the clouds. To the left, slow, rolling, white-capped waves washed up onto a pristine, white, sandy beach.

On the flat, rocky outcropping between the forest and the ocean, beautiful stone buildings rose from the ground; gorgeous masonry of different hues of grey, ornamented with elaborate carvings of creatures Shepard has never seen before.

Between the buildings, light grey skinned people bustled about, garbed in vibrant coloured robes. Large animals that looked like horse-sized blue pigs hauled carts loaded with goods. Two children ran laughing past Shepard's legs; the biggest smiles he had ever seen were plastered on their faces.

Wooden stalls were set up all around; vendors selling vibrantly coloured clothing, shimmering jewelry, and unfamiliar foods. The aroma of exotic herbs and spices wafted through the air, mixing with the briny scent of the sea.

"This is Avara, the largest moon of the planet Hessa, and the home world of the orotari," A voice echoed, seemingly from nowhere, "At least it was… 70 000 years ago."

The sudden sound of an explosion shattered the peaceful scene, and somewhere in the distance, terrified screams filled the air. Another explosion rocked the ground as the building in front of Shepard shattered and ignited. Stone rained down on the street, smashing into the people that filled it. Flame erupted from the now exposed wooden interior of the building.

Several figures stumbled out of the wreckage, their clothes aflame. Blood curdling screams turned to gurgles as the figures collapsed, clawing at their burning bodies.

Moans of pain and screams of terror filled the air, followed by several more earth-shattering explosions.

To his right, the forest was ablaze, the gargantuan trees fuelled the inferno. To his right, the rolling waves of the ocean began washing away the accumulating rubble and bodies.

He turned to see the two children that were playing not a minute before, sprawled out on the cobblestone street. One was silent and un-moving, face down in a pool of glistening silver blood. The other was raggedly sobbing; he clutched his leg, which was pinned under a piece of rubble that was as big as he was.

The sight was unbearable; in a matter of seconds, a beautiful landscape had been turned into one of death and destruction. It was exactly as he remembered earth, just as the reapers began invading.

Images of crumbling skyscrapers, escape shuttles exploding in the sky, and grotesque husks wandering the derelict streets of Vancouver suddenly flooded Shepard's mind.

He was suddenly pulled from his nightmarish memories, when out of the corner of his eye, he detected movement.

He turned towards the direction of the movement to see a tall, dark-green alien in shining red armour, In its hands was a dark, boxy weapon, similar in shape to Javik's particle rifle; a prothean!

As the prothean stepped forward, the boy trapped under the rock cried out, "No! Stay away, please!"

Without hesitation, the protean spun on his heels, turning to face the boy. In on fluid motion, it raised its weapon arm, aimed and fired.

A beam of pure energy erupted from the gun, lancing forward and piercing straight through the boy's skull. As the prothean brought its arm down, the young child's body slumped back against the pavement. Around it, a pool of fresh, silver blood expanded outwards.

Shepard stared aghast as the sight, unsure of what to do.

_What in god's name is going on?_

* * *

Shepard's eyes snapped open as Qi'ina removed her hand from his forehead. He blinked a few times, adjusting his eyes to his surroundings.

As his vision sharpened, he realized he was back in the make-shift cell within the shuttle bay; around him, several guards had their weapons raised, pointing them directly at Qi'ina, who stood unflinching before them.

"Are you alright, Commander?" one of the Normandy's marines asked, looking at Shepard.

"Yeah, I'm fine; you can put your weapons down."

At the order, the line of gun barrels lowered, however, none of the guards looked any more relaxed.

"What was that?" Shepard asked, rubbing his now sore forehead.

"That," replied Qi'ina coldly, "Was the beginning of the near extinction of my people."

There was about a minute of silence between the two, during which, Qi'ina had returned to her original position, with her hands folded under her chin, and her eyes shut.

Suddenly something clicked in Shepard's mind; he realized that she had spoken English.

He turned to face the woman, and as if she could read his mind she said, "My people have been fabricating organisms and manipulating DNA for nearly a hundred millenniums. Naturally, we can splice the prothean ability to transfer thoughts through touch into our own DNA. What you saw was a memory passed down from generation to generation, in order for us to know the horrors of the prothean invasion."

She opened her eyes, which now glistened with held back tears, "70 000 years ago, my people were able to send a craft into orbit around our world. It wasn't long until we were able to land one on Athegus, another habitable moon that orbits Hessa, the same planet our home world orbits.

"Upon landing, we discovered that we were not alone in the galaxy. The protheans had set up a research base on Athegus, and had spent nearly a hundred years observing our civilization. They then offered us a position as slaves for their empire, and when we refused, they attacked.

"War raged in our home system for nearly half a century, by which point our numbers had been cut from one billion, to less than 20 000. We eventually managed to fend them off, and have been in isolation ever since."

A brief silence ensued after she completed her story, and a single tear ran down her cheek.

Before he could stop himself, Shepard reached out and wiped the tear with his thumb. As his thumb brushed her cheek, she spun to face him and hissed; bearing her incredibly sharp incisors.

He had managed to fight a reflexive flinch, and instead slowly drew his hand back to his side.

"I don't need your sympathy, human. I only need to kill the last prothean, and you are standing in my way!" Qi'ina hissed.

Realizing he had pushed too far, Shepard rose to his feet.

"We'll talk again later," he said, stepping out of her containment field.

Choosing to ignore him, Qi'ina simply closed her eyes and returned to her meditation.

Shepard paused just outside her cell to take another look at the woman.

To carry the memories of her people dying; it would be enough to bring any person to want revenge, especially when each memory was as vivid as the one she had shown him. Shepard understood this, and as he looked at her, he felt a pang of sympathy, despite her not wanting any.

As he walked away, he tried to clear his mind. No matter how horrible a tragedy befell her people, Javik was not responsible for it. He was not only born several thousand years after the war with Qi'ina's people, but he had also witnessed an equally horrific catastrophe claim his own race.

"I guess I should talk to Javik, he might be able to shed some light on things," Shepard murmured to himself as he stepped into the Normandy's elevator.

As his finger hovered over the button for the engineering deck, EDI's voice rang out. "Commander, the council's biotic expert has arrived, and has requested permission to board."

"Permission granted," Shepard sighed, bringing his finger to press the button for the ship's CIC. _I guess I'll have to talk to Javik later._

* * *

As the elevator arrived on the CIC, the doors slid open to reveal Specialist Traynor at her usual spot by her console.

Instead of performing her usual task of observing communications, she was deep in conversation with a blue-skinned figure adorned with sleek red battle armour. Even from just standing still and talking, it was obvious to anyone nearby that the figure was powerful; her very pores seemed to radiate with energy.

Despite the intimidating presence, Traynor seemed completely unfazed by the warrior, and was instead rather comfortable with simply hearing what she had to say.

"I can't even begin to imagine the strain put on you from having to maintain a barrier like that for so long," Shepard overheard Traynor say.

The warrior, whose gaze suddenly found the commander, replied, "Yes, it was difficult, but Shepard was able to get every single one of us out alive."

Noticing Shepard, Traynor broke off from the conversation to great him. "Commander, you have such interesting friends. Samara was just telling me about your fight against the collectors."

Shepard gave a small chuckle, "You've already heard the story from Garrus, Tali, and Joker."

"Well… I…" Traynor stammered, trying to hide a blush, "I wanted to hear it from _her_. You know, to hear it from a different perspective."

Shepard smirked at the communications specialist, who was nervously clearing her throat. "Well, I ought to head to engineering in order to check on the wiring down there," Traynor excused herself, slipping past Shepard towards the elevator. As she passed, she murmured quietly, so only the commander could hear, "What? She's hot."

Shepard watched as the elevator slid closed before turning his attention to Samara.

"Shepard, it is good to see you again," The asari matriarch spoke, approaching Shepard with the faintest of smiles on her lips.

"Samara, it's good to see you too," Shepard replied, shocked to see the warrior aboard the Normandy once more. "I wouldn't have expected you to agree to take a job doing guard duty."

Samara's thin smile widened ever so slightly. "Yes, to be honest, I was… offended… when Asari Command asked me to perform such a task. But when I heard that the job was aboard the Normandy, I read the dossier. I knew that you wouldn't be involved if it wasn't an important and worthy cause."

"I'm glad you're aboard, Samara," Shepard remarked, "I couldn't think of a more talented biotic."

"You flatter me, Shepard," she replied. There was a brief pause before her facial expression turned serious and she spoke again, "Though, had I been the one in charge, I wouldn't have taken any chances. I would have killed the alien as soon as I found her."

Shepard dipped his head slightly, "That's not how I operate. She might be able to give us invaluable information on the attack. Chances are that there are more of her people waiting to attack, and through her, we may be able to stop them."

"There is wisdom in what you say, Shepard. You have your ways, and I have mine," The justicar replied, then almost unwillingly added, "…though it is your methods that united the galaxy three years ago".

Shepard smirked, "The prisoner is on deck five, whenever you're ready."

"Of course," she replied, the faint smile returning to her lips, "I should like to try to get to know this prisoner. Perhaps she will tell me about her people and their customs."

* * *

**~Three Days Later~**

Ever since the alien awoke, Tali had been on edge. Her jumpy state had only worsened when she had heard about the incident in the med bay, where the alien had single-handedly managed to overpower 13 of the strongest krogans in the galaxy, along with an entire squad of quarian marines and the salarian STG.

Things had gone by without incident ever since, but she couldn't help but feel nervous

_You're over-reacting, John has this under control. _She thought to herself for the umpteenth time that day as she stepped onto the Normandy's third deck.

_That's right, everything's fine. Shepard has this handled, and with Samara and Grunt on board, there's no way anything could go wrong._

"I don't know who gives me bigger creeps, the asari, or that new prisoner," the voice of an Alliance soldier reverberated around the corner from the mess hall, causing Tali to pause in her tracks.

"I know, they both just sit there, staring at each other," came a reply from a Quarian Marine, "I'm not even sure I've ever seen either of them blink."

"Ha! You whelps get scared too easy," A third voice, one of a krogan, scoffed.

"I nearly shat myself when that alien threatened to kill Shepard. I swear I actually saw him sweat when she said that," the first voice continued.

_Threatened to kill him? _Tali thought angrily, clenching her fists.

"You know, I've seen the commander down in the shuttle bay talking to the prisoner an awful lot lately," the quarian voice interjected.

"Yeah, and for the most part, they seem to want to talk about each other's pasts. I don't get how any of it has to do with stopping an invasion," added the human.

"I wonder if his quarian mate is getting jealous. I'd love to see a fight between her and the prisoner," the krogan laughed nonchalantly.

_He would, would he? Well, I guess I'll give him one! _Tali fumed, turning back to the elevator, and mashing her finger into the button for the shuttle bay.

Had her thoughts not been so clouded with rage, she would have been shocked at how suddenly her mood had changed from timid to infuriated.

_No one threatens my John!_

* * *

**Next Chapter: Tali and Qi'ina have a friendly "chat", more of the Orotaris' history is revealed, and Shepard learns startling information about an old foe.**


	6. Chapter 6: Girl Talk

**A few things before we begin with Chapter 7:**

**First of all, I apologize for another delay in updating, but this chapter has been kicking my butt. Truth be told, I'm still not too happy about how it's turned out, but I think it's as good as it's going to get.**

**Secondly, I'd really appreciate it if you could post reviews when logged in. If you don't have an account, that's perfectly fine, I'm not going to disable guest reviews, and as long as the reviews are respectful, I will OK them. It just makes it easier for me to reply to the review when it's posted by someone with an account, especially if there is a question included.**

**And lastly, I've been working on a few ideas for other fanfics, so that I have something to do whenever I get stuck on this one. One idea is for Justice League, one is for Harry Potter (despite the fact that I'm not really that huge of an HP fan, I was challenged by a friend of mine to write one), and what will most likely appeal to anyone who is following this story: a second Mass Effect fanfic.**

**My idea for the ME fic is set in alternate universe, where Shepard resigns from the Alliance and becomes a crime-fighting vigilante to make up for the terrible things he has done on Torfan. Don't worry, it's not going to involve super-powers or weirdoes in brightly-coloured tights, and I'll try and give it as dark of a mood as possible (think along the lines of Batman and Daredevil, rather than Superman or Spiderman). In this one, I'll be including every single squad member from the three games; although not all serve as the main focal point of the story, all will be important to the over-all plot some maybe even will be antagonists. (I'm really liking the Idea I have for Kasumi.)**

**Anyways, enough with the lengthy preamble, and onto Chapter 7**

* * *

As Tali stormed her way towards the containment field, she shoved aside guard after guard, not caring that she was making a scene.

As she approached the makeshift prison, she could see a meditating Samara and a calm looking Grunt, each on either side of the cell's entrance. Deciding they would be her best change to get through, she altered he course and veered towards them.

As she stepped towards them, she was cut off by a tall, male quarian in a dark blue enviro-suit.

"Ma'am, I'm afraid I can't let you see the prisoner without permission from Commander Shepard," Said the quarian, sticking his arm out to bar Tali away from the cell.

"I am Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, and I have full authority to see the prisoner!" Tali shouted, jabbing a finger into the other quarian's chest. Right now, she was not in the mood to put up with anyone in her way. She _would_ have a 'chat' with the prisoner, and no one would stop her.

"Now, move aside before I have you transferred to Tuchanka to monitor sewage treatment, you Bosch'tet!" She hissed venomously.

Despite being nearly a foot taller than her, the marine was now cowering in fear from Tali's fury.

"Y-yes m-ma'am, right away m-ma'am!" The marine stuttered, hastily swiping his key card through a slot on the field generator's security panel.

"Heh, the quarian has a quad," Grunt chuckled to himself, having witnessed the affair from the other side of the shuttle bay. Beside him, Samara smirked ever so slightly.

Now free to enter, Tali stomped indignantly towards the small form of the Orotari, meditating on the floor.

"You! You threatened to kill Shepard!" Tali yelled. It wasn't a question, but rather a very furious statement.

Outside, the guards that gathered around the cell gulped in sympathy for the alien.

Defying expectations, Qi'ina didn't even flinch. She merely turned her calm, expressionless face upwards to meet Tali's fiery stare.

"The scent of the Commander lingers upon you. You are mated with him?" Qi'ina questioned, giving a faint smile to the enraged Quarian.

"You're damn right I… I… how did you…" Tali spluttered, her anger faltering for a brief moment as she processed what the Orotari had said.

Suddenly finding her footing, she chastised, "Don't you dare try to change the subject!"

"You are a very lucky woman to have a man like him," Qi'ina continued, "To think; he had feelings for you even before seeing your face. That shows true integrity in a man to fall for a woman because of her personality rather than her looks. I may be young, but I have passed up many potential suitors in search of what you have found."

"…" Tali was completely disarmed by what the other woman was saying. It was difficult for her to remain angry at a person who refused to fight back.

Qi'ina closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. "I… apologize for threatening to cause harm to the commander."

Tali supressed a gasp. She hadn't expected the alien to be so cooperative and straightforward, and was taken aback by what she had just heard.

"That is why you came to confront me, is it not?"

"Yes, well…" began Tali, scrambling to keep the edge in her voice. "just careful what you say to him, or I'll make you pay."

The corners of Qi'ina's mouth curved upwards as she opened her eyes once again. "I would expect nothing less."

There was an awkward pause, during which Tali stood beside the orotari, wringing her fingers while debating whether or not to leave. Her mission had been accomplished; she had gotten Qi'ina to apologize, but it had happened so quickly, she felt humiliated."

"Sit," Qi'ina finally said, gesturing to the floor beside her. "I wish to speak more to you."

"Awfully demanding, aren't we?" Tali raised her eyebrows at the other woman. Unfortunately, the gesture was lost behind her visor.

"Please sit," Qi'ina said, careful to use a friendly tone.

After a brief pause, Tali caved to the woman's request and took a seat where she had gestured.

Uncomfortable with sitting so close to a woman she was still both terrified of and humiliated by, Tali shifted uneasily in her spot as an awkward silence enveloped them.

A quick glance to her left told her that Qi'ina was staring intensely at her.

Suddenly taking an interest in the pattern stitched into her gloves, she stared at her hands, ocassionally flexing her wrist and watching how the fabric responded., avoiding the Orotari's piercing gaze.

"I have had many opportunities to speak with Shepard over the past few days. It has been an enlightening experience to hear his stories," Qi'ina said.

"Oh?" Tali replied, still staring down at her hands.

_Great, now we're exchanging niceties. _

Qi'ina continued, not noticing Tali's discomfort. "Yes, he has told me much about the galaxy's many cultures of this era. His favourite race to speak about is your own, Tali'Zorah."

This pulled Tali out of her stupor. "What has he told you?" She asked, quickly jerking her head up.

"He speaks highly of your culture and society." Qi'ina replied, a slight smile on her face that made Tali feel sick. "He also speaks of your history; how you created a race of machines, and how they rebelled; exiling you from your planet."

Tali nodded awkwardly, remembering how Shepard had explained to her how Qi'ina's people had been nearly decimated.

Qi'ina let out a small laugh. It was a light chuckle that to most people would sound soft and friendly, but to Tali's ears, it sounded cold and harsh; exactly the laughter she expected to come from a programmed killer.

"Your species is much like my own; hunted to near extinction. Yet, both our peoples lived on, and grew resilient because of the hardships we faced." Qi'ina spoke again, placing her hand gently on Tali's shoulder.

Tali gasped, pulling away from the hand as if it had burned her.

Quickly pulling herself together, Tali rounded on Qi'ina. "More resilient?! For three hundred years, my people drifted in space, searching the stars for a new home, yet everywhere we went, we were turned away with hostility! Were condemned to our ships, where our culture grew stagnant, and our immune systems faltered!"

Not faltering, the orotari calmly replied, "And yet, when the reapers arrived, your people offered the service of the largest fleet in the galaxy. You forged an alliance with the geth and liberated your planet. It was your engineers who helped to rebuild the citadel, it was your fleet that was able to protect the terminus systems from pirates until the council could send re-enforcements, and it was your virtually untouched home world that provided shelter to millions of refugees.

"The galaxy is in your debt, and the quarians hold as much power as any of the original four council species. I'd say that counts for something."

Tali stared at the woman in front of her. She had no clue how Qi'ina had learned so much information in such a short amount of time, but she was right; the quarians had made one hell of a comeback.

Her now temper deflated, Tali sighed and returned to her seat.

"I'm… sorry. I had no reason to yell at you. And I'm sorry I've been harsh with you, I just…" Tali said, searching her mind for the words to describe what she felt.

"You're slow to trust", Offered Qi'ina.

Tali nodded. "Yes, I suppose that's it. I'm slow to trust, especially someone who poses such a threat."

Qi'ina smiled, and this time Tali returned it, despite the gesture being hidden behind her translucent visor.

"It's funny," Qi'ina said suddenly, "Your people created a race of machines who believe they are living creatures, while mine created a race of living creatures who believe themselves to be machines."

Tali laughed. She couldn't help it; the blunt statement just was so out of the blue and unexpected.

Her laugh started as a quiet chuckle, but grew to the point that Tali had to clutch her sides. Qi'ina quickly joined, causing Tali to laugh harder. Eventually, the two women were rolling on the floor, gasping for breath. They were no longer laughing at the original statement, but rather at one another's uncontrollable fits of giggling (after all, laughter is contagious).

After a few moments, the laughter finally died down. Tali panted for air, still clutching her sides as Qi'ina wiped a metallic blue tear of mirth that had formed in the corner of her luminous eye.

Tali lifted her head up in order to meet Qi'ina's gaze. Without realizing it, Tali tilted her head to the side slightly; a way for quarians to let others know they were smiling. Qi'ina returned the gesture with a broad grin, flashing her incredibly sharp fangs.

Had she seen those teeth mere minutes ago, Tali would have shrunk back in fear. Instead, the sight of the grin made her feel welcomed and relaxed.

The ice between the two had shattered instantly. Apparently laughter truly was the best cure for anything.

"I think we'll get along just fine, Tali'Zorah," Qi'ina spoke, breaking the silence.

Tali smirked, "Maybe."

"Thank you Tali, I nearly forgot what laughter sounded like. I don't think I've genuinely smiled since I left the home world."

"What is it like, your home world?" Tali asked, interested.

Qi'ina smiled, happy to discuss her home, "It is small; only slightly larger than half the size of Earth. A vast blue ocean covers most of its surface, surrounding a single continent. On the continent, a rainforest stretches from coast to coast; filled with the most wonderful wildlife you have ever seen… it is the definition of paradise." She said happily.

"It sounds nice," Tali hummed, closing her eyes, trying to picture what Qi'ina had described. "I wish I could see it."

"You can." Qi'ina said suddenly, looking quite pleased, "I can show you. I can transmit my memories through touch. All I need is skin-to-skin contact"

Tali stared hesitantly at Qi'ina before slowly nodding. Her immune system had been growing much, much stronger over the years, so she doubted a short period of open-air exposure in the shuttle bay would cause much harm.

Besides, as crazy as it sounded, she suddenly felt like she could trust this woman. It was as if in their bout of laughter, barriers had come crashing down, and the two had instantly become close friends.

Slowly she reached her right hand to the cuff of her left glove. Wth a quick flick of the fingers, she undid the claps that held it in place. As the seals released, she slid the tough, rubbery glove off of her hand and set it in her lap.

She wasn't ready to show her face; not yet. At least not to anyone but Sheppard. She did, however, feel comfortable enough with this; exposing her skin to the woman in front of her.

Merely a few feet away, Samara sat quietly with a knowing smirk on her face.

_In my thousand years of life, I've only ever met one other individual with charisma it takes to earn that level of trust so quickly, _she thought to herself as she cast a sideways glance at Qi'ina.

_Shepard, you have your work cut out for you._

With a reassuring smile, Qi'ina brought her hand up to clasp Tali's own. "Close your eyes."

* * *

As Shepard stepped onto deck four, he cast a glance at the door to engineering, wondering if he should pay Tali a quick visit.

_Later,_ he told himself, _right now, you have to talk to Javik. You've been putting this off for too long, it needs to be now._

Making up his mind, Shepard strolled towards the door leading to Javik's quarters, stopping in his tracks as the door slid opened before he could even reach it.

"You wished to speak to me, Commander?" Javik asked, appearing at the doorway. Slowly, Sheppard nodded. "It is about the Orotari." Javik continued.

Again, Shepard nodded. Javik sullenly frowned before retreating back into the room, beckoning Shepard to follow as he did so.

With slow, almost resentful footsteps, Javik trudged towards his water basin. He paused at the water's edge, half-heartedly trailing a finger along the surface, his eyes following his finger's wake.

"The Orotari has made claims against the protheans; terrible, deplorable claims," Javik spoke, turning to face the commander.

Shepard didn't reply, he merely cast his gaze down to the floor, not daring to meet Javik's eyes.

"You came to me, wanting to hear me tell you that her stories are wild imaginings; that her anger and lust for vengeance are misplaced," He continued.

Shepard wracked his brain, hoping to come up with the proper thing to say.

Before he had to, however, Javik intervened, "Well, they aren't."

Shepard jerked his head upwards in shock. As his sight came to fall on the prothean, he saw that Javik was now the one who refused to make eye contact, a pained expression threatening to break through his stoic expression.

"I have never heard of the Orotari before now; their war with my people was 20 000 years before my birth. However, I have heard certain stories." Javik said slowly.

"What kind of stories," Shepard asked, his voice devoid of emotion.

The prothean hesitated. "Stories… stories of how races that refused our rule were subsequently crushed," He said, shaking his head. "There was a time I believed my species had the right to do so; that it was the natural order for us to rule, vanquishing those who wished to defy us. But perhaps seeing my own people suffer the same fate, or perhaps from seeing how the races of this era can cooperate, or a combination of the two, the idea now makes me sick to my stomach."

"Races… so there were more?" Shepard asked, careful to keep the shock from his voice.

"In the beginning, yes," Javik replied, sounding like he was nearly vomiting the words. "Then word spread to the other races of the galaxy. When the offer to join our empire was extended to them, they decided they would rather be a slave race than a dead race."

"That's barbar-" Shepard began, aghast, but caught himself before he finished what he was about to say. "I'm sorry." He quickly apologized.

"No, you are correct," the prothean replied, hanging his head in shame. "It was nothing short of deplorable."

Javik continued to stare at the floor as Shepard struggled to think of what to say next. As the awkward silence stretched on, Shepard finally found his words. "Thanks for the talk, Javik, I've heard what I needed to."

As Shepard stepped out of the cargo bay, Javik dipped his head to peer at his reflection in the water basin.

"Javik…" Shepard said, pausing briefly at the doorway, "I know it wasn't your fault."

Without bothering to look up, the prothean slowly nodded. As Shepard turned to leave, Javik listened to his footsteps until they disappeared.

"Four-eyed demon," He murmured to himself, splashing the water to distort the face looking back at him.

* * *

"It's beautiful," Tali breathed as Qi'ina released her grip from around Tali's hand. The panoramic views of lush forests and flourishing shallow oceans that had just occupied her head faded; replaced by the inside of the make-shift containment cell.

A bright smile flashed across Qi'ina's face upon hearing the remark.

"Yes, it truly is. Unfortunately, nuclear fallout from the prothean invasion has left massive areas where life still doesn't grow."

Tali felt a pang of sympathy for the woman. Suddenly, a question formed on her lips, and before she could stop herself, she asked, "How did your people survive… you know…"

"The protheans?" Qi'ina offered.

When Tali nervously nodded, Qi'ina let out a sigh.

"It was nearly two years into the war… if you can call it a war. It was more so an extermination. Our people's population had already been cut in half. Our largest cities were in ruins, and the small pockets of resistance that rose up were quickly eradicated.

"Our kind was always peaceful, and had never seen war. We simply lacked the ability to fight back.

"Finally, we caught a break; one of our resistance groups managed to capture one of the prothean camps, and in it was a squadron of spacecraft. We quickly loaded the squadron with supplies and troops, but most Importantly; our people's most brilliant scientists. The squadron flew to Athegus, another moon capable of supporting life, orbiting the same planet as our world.

"There, the scientists spent nearly a decade perfecting our 'ace in the sleeve', as humans would call it."

Qi'ina held both her hands in the air for effect, a near maniacal gleam in her eyes.

"The World Eater!"

Tali leaned in closer, fully engaged in Qi'ina's story.

"A 50 kilometer long bio-ship, with a kilometer wide maw, capable of consuming even the largest dreadnaught in the prothean fleet," Qi'ina continued, reciting the story as if she had told it many times before, "Of course, we need something much more drastic than to simply attack the fleet around our home world if we had any hope of survival. Instead, the World Eater devoured the mass relay within our system, cutting off their supply of reinforcements.

"The Protheans' moral quickly deteriorated, and were able to finish off those that remained within our system. A few were kept in order to extract information and tech schematics, but they were disposed once their usefulness had run out."

Qi'ina lowered her head, staring down at the floor before continuing, "By the time we claimed victory, it almost wasn't worth it."

Tali gave her a questioning look. "Wasn't worth it? You survived. Your people are here today, as you said, more resilient than ever."

"Yes, but by that point, our population was so low and spread out, that we didn't have enough people to sustain a healthy gene pool. If it wasn't for our prowess in bio-engineering, we would have died out." Qi'ina replied softly.

"What happened since then?" Asked Tali.

A malicious smirk graced Qi'ina's face for only a fraction of a second, but it was there long enough for Tali to notice.

"We spent 70 000 years enhancing our population with genetic upgrades, and honing our skills through rigorous training. We had very quickly turned from a people of peace to a people who thought nothing of war." She replied

"My people were divided about our war. Some wanted to wipe the geth out, while some wanted to attempt peace. Most people, however, simply wanted to forget about Rannoch, and find a new home."

Qi'ina nodded. "That is understandable; however, my people are not divided. Every single orotari has been implanted with the memories of the victims of our near extinction. We carry the experience of those who suffered, so that our people will never forget.

"We also knew that we were not the first victims of the Prothean wrath, and we also knew we would not be the last. Collectively, our people decided that we would avenge the fallen, as well as protect those who had yet to fall."

Tali was about to reply when her com link opened.

"Tali, Daniels just overloaded the stealth systems, and we can't seem to bring them back on line," said the voice of Kenneth Donnelly in his Scottish lilt.

"Shut up, Ken! You're the one who told me to bypass the backup power grid!" shouted the angry voice of Gabriella Daniels.

Tali sighed before slowly standing up. "Well, I better get back to… babysitting," She said passively as she slid her glove back over her hand.

"We'll talk later, Tali'Zorah," replied Qi'ina.

With a half-hearted nod, Tali turned to head back to the engineering deck, swearing under her breath, "Bypassing the backup grid? Bosh'tets!"

* * *

"Commander, you have new, unread messages at your private terminal," Specialist Traynor said as Shepard walked past.

"Thank you, Traynor," He replied absent-mindedly as he walked towards his console.

Traynor picked up on his less than jovial mood instantly and asked, "Is there something bothering you, Commander?"

"No," Shepard replied, "Well… there is, but there's not much that can be done about it."

The communications specialist tilted her head to one side and offered what she hoped was an encouraging smile. "Perhaps if you talk about it with someone, it'll help ease your mind."

There was a short hesitation before Shepard turned to lean against the railing that surrounded the galaxy map.

"Traynor," Shepard began, casting his gaze to the specialist, "How would you get two people who hate each other to work together?"

Traynor paused briefly before turning to face the commander. "I would maybe try putting them in a situation that would force them to cooperate."

A smile quickly spread on Shepard's face as an idea came to mind. "Traynor, you are a genius!"

With a smirk, Traynor turned back to her station. "Oh, I know."

The smile still in place, Shepard turned to his private terminal and brought up the message screen. Just as Traynor had promised, the light that indicated a new message was blinking.

With a series of taps on the holographic display, he opened up the message and read.

_Shepard,_

_I have a mutually beneficial proposition for you that I know you can't turn down. If and when you want to hear it, set up a video conference with me when you're alone._

_Aria T'Loak._

_P.S. It has to do with Cerberus. Do I have your attention now?_

* * *

***Gasp* Cerberus? What ever could Aria need to tel Sheppard about Cerberus?**


End file.
